If you’ve ever had a flight cancelled, chances are you’ve experienced the dark side of customer service.
That’s exactly what I expected when I received a text from United Airlines Wednesday morning, telling me that my 5:30pm flight from Chicago to New York was cancelled due to severe weather conditions. But instead of the dark side, I saw the light; exactly how good customer service can be when the agent cares, and is equipped with the tools to do whatever it takes to solve the customers’ problems.
After receiving the cancellation text from United, I quietly left the meeting room to call Orbitz Customer Service, to find another flight home. I reached a live agent in less than two minutes, even though the message told me there was a six-minute hold time.
I called from my cell phone in a section of a hotel conference center, where the signal was weak at best. The agent said three times, “Hello, please speak up – I can’t hear you.”
In the past, if a customer service rep couldn’t hear me, they politely apologized, and hung up to take their next inbound call. The bad connection was seen as my problem; not theirs.
But Heather from Orbitz didn’t do what most customer service agents have done. She said, “Sir, I can’t hear you, because you must have a poor signal on your cell phone. Please go to a spot where there’s a better signal, and I’ll call you back in two minutes.”
I went up the escalator, and over by a window where the signal was stronger. Precisely two minutes later, my cell phone rang – it was Heather. She assessed the situation (customer calling from cell phone, weak signal) and took ownership of the problem.
I told Heather my situation, and she listened. I told her that I’d like to be on the first available flight, Thursday morning. She told me that there were no United flights available until Friday; that the only way for me to get a Thursday flight home would be if airline would accept my United ticket. That would take several phone calls, and a lot of hold time. But Heather promised that she’d make the calls, and get back to me with an update.
I told Heather that I would be in meetings and unable to take a phone call. “Could you send me a text message instead?”
“No, but I can update you via email. Don’t worry Mr. Watson – go back to your meetings, and I’ll take care of this. I’ll update you when I have more information.” I didn’t expect this level of service, when I bought my flights on line through discount broker. But I wasn’t going to question my good fortune.
Forty-five minutes later, I received an email from Heather – she said she booked me on Delta’s first flight Thursday morning. That email was followed by another, containing a confirmation number and updated itinerary.
Life was near normal again, thanks to a customer service representative that took ownership of my problem so that I didn’t have to worry about it. Heather at Orbitz had made my life a lot easier, and guess who’s now going to buy more of his airline tickets through Orbitz?
Thanks to Orbitz Customer Service for restoring my calm after the storm.
And thanks to pixdaus.com for an equally soothing image!